Click here to read the full article on SPIN.
The past year has been bizarre for many bands, but Trapt can take the WTF cake. They made headlines in April for a rivalry with Ice-T, then tried to defend some rough sales numbers and ended 2020 with a ban on Facebook and Twitter accounts after singer Chris Taylor Brown made some rather cringeworthy political protests regarding Proud Boys and questioning systemic racism in the United States.
With all this in mind, it is no surprise that Michael Brown has decided to quit. On Sunday, the drummer revealed his “bittersweet” decision to leave the band in a long message on Instagram.
More from SPIN:
“After playing drums at Trapt in recent years, I decided to leave the band. This is definitely a bittersweet decision, ”he started before addressing (without naming names) the mess that was 2020.“ There were some problems going on (mostly political) throughout 2020 that many of you may know, others may not. If you’re curious, just search Google. I respect everyone’s right to have an opinion on politics. But at the end of the day, I’m a musician and my job is to play and create music. So this is what I intend to do. “
Brown assured that he still has “great relationships” with his former bandmates and “will only speak for me. The positions taken and the publicity received as a result are not representative of myself, ”he wrote. “Not as an individual, nor as appropriate or aligned with my personal morals and beliefs. I don’t agree with how certain things have been treated in relation to our fans and the music community for which I have so much respect.
The drummer continued to thank everyone, from the fans to the local team, for helping his career to flourish. “It was one of the best periods of my life in the past two years,” added Brown. “But at the end of the day, I don’t agree with many things morally and with the publicity the band received, especially last year in 2020 … It’s time to move on and look for other paths and projects.”
See Brown’s full message below.
To see our list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, click here.